Bridgeworlds: Deep Flux (5 page)

King Alagaar had climbed upon the dragon’s back while it was distracted
with the others. King Erestar was attacking the dragon at its feet, chopping away
at an ankle with a great sword, trying to sever a foot. King Pacal of Suchikos and
King Magnus of Loefel Meren had each taken a wing and were cutting holes in
them. Kasey could not believe what she was seeing. They were literally hacking
him into pieces. The dragon breathed out fire and jerked violently sending King
Pacal and King Magus to the ground.

King Alagaar had made his way up the beast's neck to his head. The
dragon whipped its head, trying to throw King Alagaar off, but he had wedged
one of his gauntleted hands between the dragon's scales. His other hand was
holding a battle axe. King Alagaar skillfully began to plunge the axe into the
dragon’s head. The dragon whipped its head violently breathing fire in different
directions, roaring so loud that it shook the ground, but the king kept chopping
away until fire burst from the top of the dragon’s head. King Alagaar plunged
the axe in deep one more time, causing an explosion of fire, and the dragon’s
body fell to the ground.
Did they do it, is it even possible? To kill Satan?
The
Monarchs let out a cheer.

The celebration was short lived, though, as a dragon made of fire rose
from the corpse. They redoubled their attacks. King Alagaar and King Pacal
charged it as Queen Ariana and Queen Elizabeth shot arrows at it. The dragon
made of fire lowered its head and fire erupted from its face and eyes charring
the kings and queens to the bone. King Erestar and King Magus were the only
ones left. King Magus attacked it with his sword but his sword went straight
through the fire that made up its body. Then it crushed him with its fire paw.
Kasey noticed that King Erestar was holding no weapon. The Great Red Dragon
roared at him and the King simply knelt and bowed his head. For a moment
Kasey lost hope. The Shepherd could defeat the dragon but there was no one
left to save from it.

She looked to the Shepherd on the hill pleadingly. Despite her
invisibility, she knew He could see her. "
Please
," she mouthed desperately, tears
running down her face. "
Do something
." Whether as an answer to her or as
something He had already decided to do, a blinding light shot from the
Shepherd to each of the monarchs bodies. When Kasey regained her vision, she
noticed that the Shepherd was no longer holding the Sword of the Spirit, and
began walking towards the battlefield.

Kasey looked back over to the dragon, and the monarchs were all
standing. King Erestar stood with the Sword of the Spirit ready. The dragon
lowered his gigantic head with its gaze lowered upon King Erestar and looked at
him with narrowed eyes. The dragon braced himself and the smell of sulfur
could be smelled even from Kasey’s vantage point. And then with a loud roar
that shook the earth the dragon breathed white hot fire on King Erestar that left
all it touched in flames, but when the flames and smoke cleared the King stood
his ground, untouched by the fire. King Erestar jumped up with the giant blue
glowing sword held in both hands and sliced at the neck of the dragon. It let out
a loud roar as all of the fire dissipated and the wounded body of a man fell to
the ground. The dragon had finally been defeated, and the earth opened up to
swallow the man.

Kasey scanned the fields for the Shepherd, who she found standing over
Myles.
Will the Shepherd strike the same deal with Myles as he did as the
Master with me? Will Myles accept? Is he even still alive?
The Shepherd bent
over and touched Myles, healing him, and then He walked away. Kasey smiled
as her heart warmed. Of course; the prophecy. He wouldn’t leave Myles to die.
She wanted to go to them then but she had been warned by the Shepherd that
when she next saw him he would still be far from ready.
I can’t wait until I get
my hands on that mule-headed idiot… running into the middle of combat like he
was invincible.

The Kings and Queens of Soterion met the Shepherd in the middle of
the field and they all knelt before Him. King Erestar threw his crown to the
Shepherd's feet. He said something to them that she couldn't hear before
disappearing almost as if fading out of reality.

The battle was over; the time to hide was gone. She had followed the
Shepherd's orders, but now it was time to rebuild and Kasey was sure the
Monarchs of Soterion would soon be discussing how they planned to do that.
With her invisibility device still active she swooped in above the Monarchs to
listen in on their conversation as they rode south towards Philos. The Shepherd
did not want her to fight so maybe he wanted her to help the nations heal or
unify.

Erestar stepped in their midst and spoke. “Let this day never be
forgotten. Let there be a day of remembrance every year amongst all nations to
mourn the lives given in this battle against the evil forest of the Great Red
Dragon and the Drakoni hordes. Let it be a day of silence and a day by which we
mark our histories. It is the end of an era of oppression and destruction at the
sacrifice of these brave men and the beginning of an era of freedom from the
darkness that has overtaken these lands. As today we rise from the ashes in
memory of the lives sacrificed I change the banner of Philos from my house
banner to the banner of the Phoenix. When our nations meet let us have a
moment of silence before discussing national affairs.”

They call him King Erestar the Golden Hearted. Now I know why.

 

King Magus then spoke, “Yes, today is year one of Post Epher.”

 

The Monarchs then rode in silence for some time before discussing
what they would do next.

King Alagaar was the first to break the silence. Apparently he had spent
the time thinking of future strategy. “We need to rebuild the armies from the
refuse that is left in the Kingdoms and we need to come together to do so.
Philos, though a multi-racial abomination as I have always said, is the perfect
spot to do so. We can test the mettle of those looking to give their lives to their
Kingdoms. For the purpose of fighting our common enemy the Drakoni, there
will be one General to lead an inter-Kingdom army against the forces of the
enemy. We will hold a yearly meeting or as needed in Philos to declare interkingdom enemies. For now as stated it’s the Drakoni. The General will pick a
nation’s army to lead. Even I, who have never let any but the Daqad reside in my
Kingdom will allow this General, no matter what race, to live among us. We
must create a testing ground to select our nations' armies and rank them in
their different Kingdoms. King Erestar, is it agreed that we will use Philos for this
testing ground?”
King Erestar looked to be deep in thought. “It depends on the test.”

King Alagaar nodded, “I will come up with a fair system for selection and
you, King Erestar, will have final veto power on this system. There will be no
system until we have one that you can agree with.”

King Magus interrupted, “What of the Kalat?”

 

King Alagaar raised an eyebrow as he looked to King Magus, “The Kalat
are your problem Magus.”

The Miyka King shook his head while Queen Elizabeth spoke her own
disagreement, “The Kalat were the first enemies of Soterion. Do you forget your
history, sir?”

King Alagaar laughed, “As I remember, history is written by the victors…
that would be you now wouldn’t it?”

 

“The Kalat have been a problem for Suchikos and Loefel Meren for ages
and they brought the fall of the first Kingdom, Emerailda,” King Pacal argued.

Queen Ariana offered her own opinion, “But they are currently only a
problem for Loefel Meren and Suchikos; a problem which you have been able to
contain. The Drakoni caused the fall of an entire kingdom then invaded all of
the Kingdoms posing a threat to us all. This is what King Alagaar is referring to...
a common threat.”

King Magus sighed, “Very well then, the Drakoni for now.”

Kasey wanted to speak; she wanted to tell them the power of the sword
that King Erestar held to cure the Kalat of their curse. She wanted to point out a
way that they could eliminate the Kalat as a threat forever, but she was not
supposed to be there and would not have a voice amongst the Monarchs.
Instead she kept quiet and kept listening.

“Tell me about this testing ground, Alagaar. Is this really a good way to
rebuild?” said King Erestar.

King Alagaar smiled. “I am so glad you asked.” He cleared his throat and
began explaining his ideas for a testing ground. “I would like to call it The
Gauntlet. It would be a building or series of buildings strung together as a battle
ground to test the fighting and leadership skills of recruits. It would be maze-like
with problems to solve, traps, and enemies to fight and get past. There would
be referees to assign points to participants based on leadership, speed,
competency, and ingenuity. The first Gauntlet will be to establish armies and
rank of those in the armies. Finishing the Gauntlet will get you enlistment and
scoring high points will get you rank. We would need to set an almost
impossible goal for those participating to find the one general to lead them all.
This person should be extraordinary and rise above the rest.”

King Erestar rubbed his chin, “What peril do these recruits face? How
dangerous is this Gauntlet to them?”

King Alagaar threw his head back and growled with frustration. “Why
did a warrior race such as yours pick a sissy for a King? Do you want to hold their
hand through the Gauntlet and sing them lullabies to sleep at night too? Or do
you want real warriors who brush their teeth with gravel in the morning?”

Kasey had heard accounts that though King Alagaar was a great and
mighty warrior he was a buffoon of a king.
He really is doing a great job of living
up to his reputation.

And King Erestar, The Golden Hearted, lived up to his reputation too.
The King looked down and smiled at King Alagaar. It was not a sarcastic smile,
but one that showed good will. “Alagaar, I am not beyond holding their hands
and singing them songs if that is what must be done to keep them safe. Let us
not forget the purpose of this Gauntlet. We are trying to keep our citizens safe.
Having them killed in a death pit does not help accomplish that goal. This seems
like a way to add insult to injury after losing all of our soldiers. Can we afford to
lose even one more?”

King Alagaar shook his head in protest. “No! There is a difference
between citizen and soldier. Only a fool would say otherwise. First, we
mustered all of our best men for this battle and now all of our best are dead. All
that is left is criminals, cowards, idiots, and the weak. ”

Kasey could see the disgust on the other Monarchs’ faces. It was
obvious that Alagaar was right but they did not like the spirit with which he
presented his facts. He did not regard the lives of his citizens or his soldiers the
way the other Monarchs did and this bothered them.

Queen Elizabeth stepped forward and gave King Alagaar a stern look. “I
will not mindlessly sacrifice the lives of my people.”

Queen Ariana buzzed around his head up to his face until she was
hovering right in front of him. He swatted at her like she was a fly. Queen Ariana
moved out of the way, but only just in time. This angered Queen Elizabeth and
just as she was about to reprimand King Alagaar, King Magus spoke. “You would
do well to use some diplomacy. You would not want the Daqad added to the list
of enemy races you were talking about, would you?”

Before King Alagaar could respond, King Erestar interrupted with a
booming voice. “Enough! You are all acting like children. Are these the
shoulders that the fates of my people lie on? The shoulders of selfish and
immature leaders?”

There was a moment of silence broken by Queen Ariana, “Well, he
started it,” she said with a half grin on her face.

“And I am ending it,” came an older and wiser voice. Kasey looked
around but it took her a moment to see the one foot tall Remmy standing on
the ground before them. Kasey knew who this was but she had never met him
before. He wore the standard Remmy mushroom cap on his head over long
white hair that flowed into an even longer white beard. He wore a green cloak
with an emblem of a tree on the back and carried a walking stick that was taller
than he was. Following close behind him in flight, a white owl with a saddle
strapped to its back. It was “The Elder”... the first King of Soterion, the oldest
creature alive, and the father to the Remmy race. He was also known to advise
the Monarchs of Soterion in times of conflict.

The Elder looked up directly at Kasey flying above them and smiled as if
to acknowledge that he saw her. She panicked.
How can he see me?
The
Monarchs lifted their heads to follow his gaze, but they did not react like they
saw anything. Kasey quickly darted higher into the air and flew south toward
Philos. She hoped the Elder would not tell them that she had been there spying
on them. She tried to recall everything she could about the Elder and the
Remmy race. They were playful tricksters and, if the Elder was their Patriarch,
she hoped he would find it more amusing to keep the little secret between the
two of them.
Does he even know who I am?
she wondered. She wasn’t sure but
she would just have to hope for the best.

At least now she had some direction. She knew how she could help
Soterion heal from the loss of all its armies. She had to best the Gauntlet. Kasey
had set up in Philos long after Myles had disappeared, buying some farm land in
the plains just north of Lake City. There, she had a small home built where she
ran The Phoenix Collective -a group of seven Kalat who had accepted the
Shepherd and made the transformation to Miyka. The only purpose of the order
was to do the will of the Shepherd. Much to Kasey's dismay, the Shepherd's will
was for The Collective, Protos, and Ischus to stay out of the battle.